Atomization performance is a concern for many applications, including combustion, spray drying, agricultural-pest control and pharmaceutical delivery. Typically, atomization is optimized by producing the smallest drops with the least amount of energy over the widest range of liquid flow rates.
Achieving the best atomization performance from a liquid injector has been addressed in a number of ways, including using pressure-swirl atomizers. Pressure-swirl atomizers, as well as spill-return atomizers, have been known for some time. Spill-return atomizers, although similar in action to pressure-swirl atomizers, provide a wide range of flow rates.
In a spill-return atomizer, such as in a fuel injector, a swirl chamber contains a passage through which liquid can be “spilled” away from the atomizer. The input of fluid into the atomizer and the swirl chamber is under typically a high pressure. The fluid that is not atomized in the swirl chamber recirculates through the spill return to a liquid return or fuel return reservoir.
The apparatus of the present disclosure must be of a construction that is both durable and long lasting, and it should also require little or no maintenance to be provided by the user throughout its operating lifetime. In order to enhance the market appeal of the apparatus of the present disclosure, it should also be of inexpensive construction to thereby afford it the broadest possible market.
The disclosure provides a liquid injection nozzle, a fuel injection system for an internal combustion engine and, a method of increasing atomization performance of a fuel injection nozzle. These and other advantages of the invention, as well as additional inventive features, will be apparent from the disclosure provided herein.
The invention provides such a fuel injection nozzle, a fuel injection system, and a method of increasing atomization performance of a fuel injection nozzle.